Sanctuary Movement
The Sanctuary Movement is a growing movement of faith and immigrant communities doing what Congress and the Administration refuse to do: protect and stand with immigrants facing deportation. Members pledge to protect immigrant families who face workplace discrimination or unjust deportation. Unitarian Universalists are joining the many religious leaders, congregations, and faith-based organizations of all denominations who are part of the Movement.
Act Now
- Sign the Sanctuary pledge as a congregation (select "For Congregations" or scroll down). Ask your congregation to sign the pledge to support or offer sanctuary. In some congregations the social justice committee has signed, while in others the board signed on, and in others the congregations adopted a resolution. Some congregations choose to go through a process of education and dialogue until they are able to reach consensus.
Please contact the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) at socialjustice@uua.org to share if your congregation has signed the pledge. - Become an active Sanctuary congregation. Check out the congregational toolkit (PDF, 44 pages) for becoming a Sanctuary congregation. Find a New Sanctuary Movement coalition representative near you or contact Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE), who provide free consultation for Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations considering sanctuary.
Learn More
- List of Unitarian Universalist congregations and organizations that have pledged to support the New Sanctuary Movement and/or are offering Sanctuary
- Check out the Interfaith Immigration Coalition webinar "Faith Response to ICE Raids of Central American Families" (January 2016): PowerPoint and audio recording available on their website
- Read about the process through which the Danbury, CT, UU congregation reached consensus in The Road to New Sanctuary
- Taking Action as a Congregation: a guide for congregational resolutions and social justice statements